Thread: What's more scary? The thought of death or existing forever?

Originally Posted by Sleepy_Brown

I'd choose death. This reality sucks man! I believe what comes next, our human brains can't even comprehend at this point. I personally don't believe we just stop existing. So, yeah, i'd choose death..gotta continue the journey man.

And if you're wrong?

Okay, you can't feel sorry (you're gone then).

Still, I don't see any down side in eternal life. As long as you can still enjoy a movie you already seen greatly, after it has been a while. There are so many different things you could do, I don't think it would be very boring ever.

Yay 4 eternal life.

Originally Posted by Neruo

And if you're wrong?

Okay, you can't feel sorry (you're gone then).

Still, I don't see any down side in eternal life. As long as you can still enjoy a movie you already seen greatly, after it has been a while. There are so many different things you could do, I don't think it would be very boring ever.

Yay 4 eternal life.

Haha don't you think that eventually, after some 150 years of living, you've seen it all? What can ever really be new to you in this life? We've all seen how history repeats itself over and over again, no matter how much we would like to think we progress as a human race.

I know alot of old people that are content with their lives and the idea of dying soon. I think it would be logical that, at their age, I would feel the same way.

Somehow I feel as though, wether I die or live forever, I will be able to deal with it anywayz. I know that joy is something that comes from within. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so I'll manage either way. Allthough the thought of living forever, or existing eternally in some afterlife is infinitely more disturbing and confusing than just being gone one day I'm sure I will be able to cope with it and find my peace.

I don’t think it would be likely that you would be bored even if you lived forever. Because the very state of boredom depends very much on yourself. People can find the most simple things fascinating; it’s all quite subjective. I don’t know with what sort of side dishes this immortality would come with and no one actually defined it precisely, but I don’t think the immortality would make you omnipotent. So you would always have something to improve (yourself, skills, surroundings etc.), new knowledge to gather and new approaches to come up with. And like some already said: Not to mention the fact that the world is constantly changing.
But I think a forever would only be tolerable (and perhaps enjoyable) if you had some aids or abilities. E.g. Not getting physically hurt or damaged by anything. Imagine being in an accident or being diagnosed with a chronic debilitating disease without dying. Living forever with pain or severe limitations would not be worth it. Whatever the limitations would be (physical, mental, dimensional, whatever).

But if it came down to it I would choose death, simply because my beliefs give me hope that there is something so much better than this. Even this as a forever. (i.e. even what this place and the people in it (including me) could be if they were given forever to perfect it and themselves). I have faith in the human race yes, but not that much.

And also: What would the journey be like and what would its point be if you never reached your destination?

SKA: Even though history and people would repeat themselves, they would still be unique and thus new to you. History would be very boring if people discovered exactly the same things and constructed and destroyed exactly the same things over and over again. In reality no event would ever be an exact repetition of something else.
I think the reincarnation and perpetual memory loss thoughts were very interesting (I can't recall who posted them). It would be like having both forever and death with endless chances to start over …It would also provide the possibility of making your every life unique if you retained your knowledge but reincarnated as something else. It would grant you the gift of seeing the same things from a totally new point of view. However Ethen had some good points about the dying surroundings too. The only way to keep yourself happy then would be to have some ability like flying so you could find new planets or something (too scifi I know), and because you don’t really have those abilities life and eternity wouldn’t be so pleasant. In conclusion I would still choose death. Being immortal and omnipotent is a different debate altogether then.

Although I realize people are very passionate about their views and are going to disagree with me: Please be gentle, this is only my third post…
Oh, and sorry for the beliefs part. I just don’t think I could’ve answered the question sensibly if I hadn’t included it.

The only way eternal life wouldn't be hell is if this world we live in now stays this way forever. But it won't. Sooner or later it is going to change, or perhaps even end all together. It may be in 1000 years, or in 1 trillion, but eventually human life is going to die out, or the planet is going to have a dramatic climate shift, or the sun is going to burn out and turn into a black hole, or something. Odds are that you will end up in a situation that isn't good, and you'll be in that situation for a LONG time, perhaps indefinitely.

And remember, just because you can't die doesn't mean you are invulnerable to pain, extreme heat/cold, psychosis, or even aging...